Steam-engine



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11.1). HARDY. STEAM ENGINE. No. 400,081. li tented' Mar. 26, 1889..

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STEAM ENGINE.

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STEAM ENGINE. No. 400,081. Patented Mar. 26, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DEXTER D. HARDY, OF oIIIoAeo, ILLINOIS.

STEAM-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 400,081, dated March 26, 1889.

Application filed March 13, 1888. Serial No. 267,122. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 'I, DEXTER D. HARDY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steam-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to make a single-cylinder double-actin g trunk-piston engine which will combine all of the advantages of double-acting engines as now made, which will be compact in construction, economical in cost and in the consumption of fuel, and which will possess other advantages, as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure l is a front elevation of the complete engine. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of Fig. 1, taken on the broken line 1 1 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 2, with the exhaust-eccentric and eccentric-rod and the crank-arm of the exhaust crank-rod shown in full lines at the left of the figure. Fig. 4 is a detail cross-section of the steam-chest and exhaust-valve, showing the arrangement of ports, taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a cross-section of the steamchest and steam-admission valve, showing the arrangement of ports, taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. '6 is a detail plan section of the steam-chest, showing the arrangement of the admission and exhaust ports, taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 5. Fig.7 is a detail plan section of the main connecting-rod, taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. 2. Fig. 8 is a detail elevation of a portion of one of the pulley-wheels with a compound eccentric attached thereto, a portion of the cap on the large eccentric being broken away.

In constructing my single-cylinder doubleacting steam-engine I make a cylinder of the desired size and strength and preferably inclose it in awooden lagging or other non-heat conducting material. This cylinder is provided at one end with a steam-chest having separate admission and exhaust ports, and opens at the other end into a crank-chamber, as hereinafter described. I have indicated this cylinderby the letter A, and the lagging or covering by the letter B. I provide the steamcylinder with a cover, 0, which also forms the bottom of the steam-chest. Of course it will be understood that this top is properly connected to the top of the steam-cylinder, so as to afford a secure and steam-tight connection, except where the ports are provided for the admission or exhaust of steam. Within the steam-cylinder is arranged a piston-head, D, of a size sufficient to fill the steam-cylinder as it moves back and forth, and I provide it with packing-rings or other means between the piston and the steam-cylinder to secure a steam-tight joint between the two. There may be any number of these packing-rings desired, and their location and arrangement will be indicated by the letter (Z. Around the upper portion of the piston is provided an annular steam-chamber, E, which is formed by making the piston-head at that point of less diameter than the interior of the cylinder. This space is entered by a pipe, e, which conducts steam into it, as hereinafter described.

At a proper point in the piston the upper end of a connecting-rod, F, is attached to the piston by a bolt or pin, f. This pin or bolt passes through a box of which the lower half is formed on the end of the connecting-rod and the other half held in place by two looprods, f f, which pass around the box on each side of the connecting-rod proper, as shown particularly in Fig. 3 of the drawings. Near the lower end of the connecting-rod are lugs f f extending out from each side, through which the lower ends of the loop-rods pass. The lower ends of these loop-rods are threaded, and by means of lock-nuts, as shown in Fig. 3, the rods may be adjusted up or down to compensate for any looseness that may occur through wear of the box at the upper end of the connecting-rod. The lower end of the connecting-rod, as shown in Fig. 3, is provided with a box similar to the one at the upper end, except, of course, that the halves of this box are not held together by the loop-rods. This box on the lower end of the connecting-rod is indicated by the letter G, and it affords the means of connecting the lower end of the connecting-rod and crank of the crank-shaft H. The lower end of the steam cylinder opens into a box, I, which affords a crankchamber, and the shaft H passes through this box with its crank, to which the lower end of the connecting-rod is attached, located in the crank-chamber, so that it may be rotated freely therein. Of course it will be understood that this erankchamber box is provided with suitable bearings, through which the ends of the crank-shaft extend and by which they are supported; and I may say here that all of these various bearings should he provided with Babbitt or other suitable metal to prevent friction and secure the proper working of the parts. The ends of the crankshaft; are provided with balance or band wheels J J, which rotate with it in the operation of the engine. by the movement of the piston-head up and down in the steamcylinder the crank-shaft H will be rotated and with it the wheels J J, so that the power thus secured may be applied to any desired purpose.

To permit .access to the interior of the cranlechamber to adj ust the loop-rods or for other purposes, doors or openings X X are provided, and a proper opening to permit the insertion of the crank on the shaft H must be provided and means for securely closing them again. These openings are shown in the drawings, but, as they do not form the subject-matter of my claims, will not be described in detail.

1 have already said that the top of the steam-cylinder is provided with a cover which constitutes the bottom of the steam-chest. This steam-chest is indicated by the letter K, and it is provided with a pipe, 7t, leading from the source of steam-supply, so that live steam may be introduced into it. It is also provided with suitable bearings in its ends, through which the shafts of two valves, 71; k pass and are supported. These "alves are intended, respectively, to open and close the admission and the exhaust steam-ports k it. When one is open the other is closed. The ends of the shafts of the valves are connected with eccentric-rods L L, whose lower ends are connected to the extending ends of the crankshaft H by means of the eccentrics Z I. These eccentrics may be made in different ways, although I have preferred the kind shown in the drawings, in which the eccentric to which the lower end of the rod whichoseillates the valve regulating the admission of steam to the steam-cy1inder is a compound eccentric, as shown in Fig. 8, where the simple letter 7 indicates both of the eccentrics. The shafts of the valves 7. are connect-ed to the upper ends of the eccentric-rods L L by means of cranks 7 l, which are turned in that position which will cause one of the valves to be opened, while the other is closed as the eccentrio-rods are carried up and down by the retation of the crankshaft H. As the steam is admitted into the steam-cylinder from the steamchest through the inlet or admission port, it will exert its force on the whole top surface of the piston'head and force it down, by which the crank-shaft will be rotated half a revolution. As the piston-head reaches the lowest point, the movement of the eccentricrods will be such as that the inlet-port will be closed by the oscillation of the steam-inlet valve, and the exhaust-port opened by the oscillation of the exhaust-port valve. In its downward movement the piston-head will have compressed or forced back into the pipe the steam in the annular space or chamber E, which is constantly supplied without interruption through the steam-pipe e. The moment, therefore, that the exhaust port is opened, as above described, the steam in the annular chamber E and pipe 6, being again free to exert its power, will force the pistonhead upward, and thus complete a revolution of the crank-shaft II. As the piston-head reaches the top of the steam-cylinder, the partial revolution of the crank thus caused will have changed the position of the valves 7.: k so that the exhaust-port will be closed and the inlet-port opened, when the steam will again rush in and force the piston-head down until it has reached a point where the inlet-port is again closed and the exhaustport again opened, when the steam in the chamber E and pipe 6 will again exert its power. This alternate utilization of the steam to force the piston-head down and then up is secured by the differential areas on which the steam may exert its power, the area of the piston-head being enough greater than the area on which the steam in the chamber E exerts its power to enable the steam against the piston head to overcome the upward pressure of the steam in the chamber E, and still exert aforce in the downward movement equal to the force with which the steam forces the piston upward. Of course these diiferential areas may be made of any desired size, so long as the proper proportions are maintained. I should further explain that in order to secure the most desirable results the steamchest should be located at the outer end of the larger part of the cylinder, by which I mean that portion of the cylinder which has the largest room for the admission of steam and where the steam is admitted against the larger area of piston, and the other end of the cylinder opens, as above said, into a crankchamber. This crank-chamber not only affords a space for the rotation of the crank on the crank-shaft H, but means for the application of lubricants, which are poured or introduced into the crank-chamber in as large a quantity as may be desired. The crank rotating in the lubricants agitates them and secures the proper lubrication of the various bearings for which they are intended. This arrangement also secures the protection of the lubricants from dust or other injurious matter.

To balance the rotative parts of the engine, I preferably employ counter-weights W' WV, suspended on the crankshaft within the crank-chamber, which removes them out of the way and secures a more compact c011- struction of the engine; and the depending ends of these weights will also assist in agitating the lubricants in the operation of the parts.

In the operation of my improved steam-engine it will be seen that with all the parts arranged in a single cylinder I secure all the benefits and advantages that can be derived from a double-acting steam-engine arranged, as heretofore, in two cylinders in which the action is single in each cylinder, but operating consecutively or one after the other; and I obtain these advantages both by the use of differential areas on which the steam exerts its power and alternately-operating valves to permit the admission and the exhaust of the steam, preferably operated by the rotation of the crank-shaft,whose revolutions'are secured by the upward and downward movement of the piston-head.

I have illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification above an upright engine, and have spoken of the upward and downward movement of the piston-head; but as it is obvious that the engine could be arranged in a horizontal position and work with satisfaction I do not desire to limit myself to a vertical engine; and where the terms up and down occur in the specification and claims I desire them to be understood as descriptive of a movement away from or toward the steam-chest, whether that movement be a vertical or a horizontal one.

What I regard as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In combination with an engine having differential'areas of pistons, the steam-chest having two separate ports, one of said ports being for the admission of steam to the larger area of said piston and the other of said ports being for the exhaust of steam from the larger area of said piston, said steam-chest being provided with two separate valves, one for the admission of the steam to the larger area of the piston and the other for the exhaust of the steam from the larger area of the piston, both of said ports and bothof said valves being arranged in one and the same steamchest, substantially as described.

2. In a steam-engine wherein the steam is exhausted from one end of the cylinder only, the combination of a steam-chest having one or more openings in the valve-seat for the admission of steam to the cylinder and one or more openings in the valve-seat for the exhaust of the steam from the cylinder, all contained in one and the same steam-chest,valves for the admission and exhaust openings in the valve-seats corresponding in form to the form of the valve-seats and having openings corresponding therewith for the admission and the exhaust of the steam, said valves being of substantially uniform diameter throughout their length and fitted to their valve-stems in a way which permits of their free movement in a radial direction from their center of rotation under the pressure of the steam, whereby the valves are properly held in contact with their seats by steam-pressure regardless of their wear, substantially as described.

3. In an engine having a cylinder exhausting steam from but one end and a double-acting piston working therein, the combination of a steam-chest at its outer end parallel with the crank-shaft, two separate valves arranged in the opposite ends of the steam-chest and working in dependently of each other, having their valve-stems extending out of the ends of the steam-chest, and crank-arms connecting the valve-stems to independent eccentric-rods, whereby the admission and exhaust of steam is controlled, substantially as described.

4. In an engine having a cylinder exhausting steam from but one end and a double-acting differential-area piston working therein, the combination of a pin, f, a two-part box surrounding the same and connected by the pin to the piston, and loop rod or rods f, holding the parts of the box around the pin and adjustable in length, substantially as described.

5. In an engine having a cylinder exhausting steam from but one end and a double-acting piston working therein, the combination of an inclosed crank-chamber into which the end of the steam-cylinder opens, a shaft passin g through the crank-chamber and having its crank working therein, a rod connecting the piston with the crank, and loop rod or rods f adjustable in length to take up the loss in the length of the connecting-rod, substantially as described.

(3. In combination with an engine having differential areas of piston, a steam-chest supplying steam to the larger area of the piston only and provided with two separate sets of ports located near its ends, respectively, two valves arranged in the steam-chest to open and close the ports and adjustably attached in a radial direction to their respective valvestems, val ve-stems with their outer ends passing out through the opposite heads of the steam-chest and provided with crank-arms pivotally attached to eccentric-rods, and eccentric-rods of which one is attached to an eccentric, revolving with the main shaft operating the exhaust-valve, and the other attached to a compound eccentric operated by the main shaft, regulating the movements of the admission -valve, substantially as described.

7. In an engine having but one cylinder with a double-acting differential-area piston working therein and from which the steam is exhausted from the larger area only, the combination of a steam-chest, admission and exhaust ports arranged in the chest, valves opening and closing the ports, eccentric-rods operating the valves, a crank-shaft operating the eccentric-rods and moving the piston up and down, and a steam-pipe constantly supplying steam to the smaller area of the piston to produce its upward stroke, substantially as described.

DEXTER D. HARDY.

Witnesses:

THOMAS A. BANNING, GEORGE S. PAYSON. 

